This story will update.
After a long Election Day and Night, all but four Congressional races featuring women veteran candidates have been decided.
So far, all challengers have lost their races, but three incumbents secured re-election and Arizona saw one major upset.
In all, 28 women veterans ran for Congressional seats on Tuesday -- a significant increase over prior years. So far, the Associated Press has called 24 of those races, according to unofficial election results. Vote counts must still be certified by state elections officials after all votes are tallied.
Among those, the Senate races remained perhaps the most significant, with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-New Jersey, emerging victorious.
Women veterans poised to play pivotal part in 2020 Congressional elections
Ernst, R-Iowa, a former Army Reserve and Iowa National Guard lieutenant colonel with 23 years of service is running against Democrat Theresa Greenfield, who has not served in the military. Ernst is the first woman to represent her state in Congress and the first woman combat veteran elected to the Senate in United States history.
Ernst faced a tight race against challenger Theresa Greenfield, but eventually won 51.8% of the vote to Greenfield's 45.2%, according to unofficial results, and led Greenfield by nearly 110,000 votes as of Wednesday morning.
Navy veteran Sen. Mikie Sherrill, D-New Jersey, was a Sea King helicopter pilot and Russian policy officer with 10 years on active duty.
The AP called the New Jersey race for Sherrill on Election Night and with about 56% reporting as of Wednesday morning, Sherill led challenger Rosemary Becchi 58.9% to 41.1%.
Sen. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, lost her bid for re-election to a fellow veteran. McSally, a former Air Force colonel with 22 years of service, was the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat. She was appointed to her seat after Jon Kyl resigned after being appointed successor for the late Sen. John McCain and so was never officially elected to the Senate.
McSally was defeated by Mark Kelly, a former Navy captain and pilot and NASA astronaut. As of Wednesday morning, with about 83% reporting, Kelly held about 52.6% of the vote compared to McSally's 47.4%, leading by more than 140,000 votes, according to unofficial results.
Seven women veterans serve in the 2019-20 session of Congress -- more than ever before. But that number will likely shrink. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, is not running for re-election, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, is not up for re-election yet, and McSally's loss means that while Congress will still keep a veteran in the Arizona seat, it won't be a woman.
Only three of those seven seats are likely to stay with women veterans so far as votes continue to be counted: Ernst, Sherrill and Duckworth. Races still haven't been decided for incumbents Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pennsylvania, or Rep. Elain Luria, D-Virginia. If those incumbents win their bids, that would be five seats, plus any challengers who upset their opponents.
One of the most notable challenger losses Tuesday was for Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot with 20 years of service and the first woman to fly combat missions for the Corps. McGrath was hoping to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, who has served in the Senate for 36 years and has significant power and influence in Congress.
McConnell received a draft deferment for law school and later enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1967, a group typically kept out of combat during Vietnam, but was deemed medically unfit for service and discharged five weeks later.
McConnell won a handy victory over McGrath, according to unofficial results as of Wednesday morning. With 97% reporting, McConnell held 58.2% of the vote and McGrath held 37.8%, putting McConnell ahead by more than 429,000 votes.
The fourth woman veteran running for Senate office was M.J. Hegar, a former Army major, also a pilot, who challenged John Cornyn, R-Texas, a previous Senate Majority whip who has served in the Senate for 18 years. Cornyn has no military service, but his father was an Air Force colonel.
With 83% reporting as of Wednesday morning, Cornyn kept his seat with 553.7% of the vote to Hegar's 43.7%, pulling ahead by more than 1.1 million votes.
In the House, several races with women veteran candidates remained outstanding as of Wednesday morning, though incumbent Elaine Luria, D-Virginia secured a win.
Luria faced a challenge from Republican candidate Scott Taylor. a former Navy SEAL. The two vets previously faced off in an election in 2018. As of early Wednesday afternoon, Luria held 51% of the vote to Taylor's 46.5% with 99% reporting.
Outstanding women veteran races include:
• Jackie Gordon, a former Army lieutenant colonel with 29 years of service is the Democrat candidate running to replace Rep. Peter King, R-New York, who is retiring. Gordon, who was born in Jamaica, served in Operation Desert Storm, at Guantanamo Bay and in both Iraq and Afghanistan;
• Chrissy Houlahan, Air Force veteran, Democrat incumbent for Pennsylvania's 6th;
• Esther Joy King, Army Reserve veteran, Republican challenger for Illinois' 17th;
• Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Army veteran, Republican challenger for Iowa's 2nd.
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Meet the 7 women veterans serving in Congress
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